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Sunday, 24 November 2013

Right but ineffectual

A major risk for all thinking people is being right but hopelessly ineffectual. If
society doesn’t care about your version of the human condition, then however brilliant
it may be, the effort of explaining it could be wasted.

So let us suppose your version of the human condition is all done and dusted
with only minor edits outstanding, but still nobody wants to know. What’s the next step?

A hobby to take your mind off things?

Some kind of spiritual activity?

Yoga?

Stamp collecting?

Bouts of incandescent rage?

Allow me to suggest idleness as a remedy. There is a lot to
be said for it even though it doesn’t attract the plaudits so unfairly bestowed
on physical activity.

Firstly, idleness is a low-emission inactivity. Less CO2 is
emitted by the idle than by bike-riders and other show-offs.

Secondly, idleness is good for the green economy because the
idle are consuming fewer resources. Apart from those who go on holiday to eat
more pizza of course.

Fourthly, idleness stimulates the mental whatsits.

If these five points don’t persuade you to consider idleness
as a genuine lifestyle alternative, preserving the brain against premature
over-use, then there’s no hope. You’ll just end up worrying about the collapse of civilisation and stuff like that.

There’s too much to know before you know you’re right, and then you know that being right doesn’t help. I have some sympathy with the sheeple, who can at least try to get on with such parts of their lives as are not dictated to them by others.